The interview
by onemoregeek
Summary: Michiru gives an interview for her latest album. Quick oneshot, hope you enjoy it.


The interview

Lani sat in her car and took a deep breath she could not believe this was really happening; she was going to interview Kaiou Michiru. She quickly checked her teeth to make sure there was nothing stuck in them and then checked her breath, it was not offensive but she popped in a light mint anyway. She checked her bag making sure she had pens, notebook, her notes on good questions and her recorder. She pulled out the assignment sheet and reread the agreement. No talking about personal life, stick to art and music, one hour interview, meet at the restaurant Thunder. It was pretty straight forward, just don't offend Ms. Kaiou. One last deep breath and she got out of the car and walked to the door of Thunder.

Kaiou Michiru was sitting at a table in the back towards the kitchen a tea pot and cup on the table with her."Hello Ms. Kaiou, thank you for agreeing to this interview. Do you prefer Ms. Kaiou or Michiru?" Ms. Kaiou stood up to greet Lani "Michiru is fine, most fans call me by my given name so I am quite used to it, and your name is Lani Hoda correct?" Lani smiled and nodded "Lani is fine. I'll just set up the recorder." They both sat "Would you like to order before we start recording?" Michiru asked. "Yes, do you have any recommendations? I have never been here before." "You are in for a treat. Everything here is great. Personally I am ordering soup, it is very rich. But I do not know your tastes" Lani looked at the menu and found a noodle dish that sounded good. The waiter walked up he nodded to Michiru and turned to Lani "Good afternoon. Can I start you with a drink?" "I'll take a green tea." "Lovely, and would you like to hear our specials or have any questions about our dishes?" "No I'm ready to order; I'll have the garlic noodles and a side of the green beans." "Very good" he then turned to Michiru "and for you Michiru?" "Soup and a plate of dumplings" He smiled at her "I'll be right back with the tea, do you need a new pot?" "Yes please" He walked away and Lani turned on the recorder "you were not kidding about your fans being comfortable using your given name." "Oh, I'm not sure if he is a fan actually, I am a fairly regular customer here. Like I said the food is amazing" Michiru had relaxed into her chair she was elegant and proper, yet inviting. She was what every girl wanted to be when they grow up. "So you are a regular customer here at Thunder, how did that happen?" Michiru smiled it was a warning smile that this question was bordering into personal terrain. "A friend suggested it and I felt a bond with the chef. Food and art are very connected, if done well they affect people's emotions. The chef here understands this to a tee, it is not only about cooking a dish perfectly, which every dish I have had here has been, but it is about connecting with your customer. I was composing a song for the new album and it was not working, I was frustrated, I came here to Thunder to get away from the piece and the studio. I had a bowl of ramen, as I ate I felt hope replace my frustration, I felt inspiration with every layered bite. When I got back to the studio I finished the song and it is my favorite on the album." Lani smiled, Michiru was very good at bringing the conversation around to where she wanted it. "What would you say is the theme of the new album? Your last album Eros was about love does this album have a theme as well?" "Eros explored the many loves we have in our lives, romantic love, familial love, toxic love, the love of friends and things. Personally I love art, some people love books, the chef here loves food, we all have a passion and I wanted to translate that into music. This time with Intensely Human I wanted to explore the other emotions we have. I found inspiration in so many places. I was at a hotel and a couple there was having a fight in the lobby, a very loud, passionate, intense fight. I wanted to capture that in a song, it is probably the angriest song I have ever written. But emotions are not always clean and pretty and happy. I wanted to show the wide range of emotions we all feel." The waiter placed the fresh tea on the table silently "The saddest song I wrote was loss. I was at the doctors just a routine exam and heard the most painful, heart wrenching sound I had ever heard. A while later a pregnant woman walked out the door, her face; it is so hard to describe the agony this woman was going through, the loss, the tears. As she walked her head down staring at her stomach, rubbing it, wishing to start the day over and have a different result. My heart hurt for her and there was nothing I could do to help her. When I went home, I sat and I wrote and did the only thing I could do, I hurt with her, I mourned with her." Lani sat there her eyes glossy with tears and looked into Michiru's beautiful face whose eyes were also full, her voice had a quiver of sadness in it." Every song has an inspiration a story of intense emotions; I hope I did them justice." "I'm sure you did. I look forward to experiencing those emotions with you when the album comes out." The both took a moment and sipped their tea to calm them a little. "I understand you painted pieces for the cover of the album and for each of the different songs. That is new for you, what inspired that?" "The music did. I had finished a couple of the songs and was listening to the recordings to make sure I liked them and as I sat listening these images would float through my mind and I felt I needed to get them out onto canvas. My producer saw the paintings and had the idea to include them in the album. It really worked out quite well. I don't think I will do it again; it was a lot of painting. But for this project it felt right. I'm really happy with it." "Do you have a favorite paring of song and painting?" Michiru smiled brightly "Yes, it is about childhood and how unpredictable emotions are when you are young. It is absolute chaos. I was at the park enjoying nature and there was a little girl, she was happy so very happy, then she tripped, she was not really hurt but she was very embarrassed, another little girl came over and consoled her, she was appreciative, the little girl offered a hand up and to go play again, the little girl was excited, some boys made fun of her for falling but she felt brave and told them it happens to everyone, she continued playing with her new friend she climbed to the top of the play set, she was so proud, then her mom said they had to go home and she was angry to have to leave her new friend, The mom picked the girl up and started to walk away and the girl was sad and cried huge tears, the little girl fell asleep in her mother's arms before they made it to the car, she was exhausted and who could blame her after that emotional rollercoaster she just had. The song has its up and downs just like the little girls day, swellings of pride and fast paced excitement, slow quiet embarrassment. The painting is the same way bright happy colors, muted sad colors, bold brave colors. I just love how the two fit together and maybe the song will remind parents what it was like to feel as purely as children do." "I am loving these stories of inspiration will they be included in the album?" "We have thrown around the idea but have not made a final decision yet. There is fear that the stories might clutter the album or alter how a listener hears the music." The waiter set the food down onto the table. "How did the idea to do an album about emotions come about?" "It started on Eros, I wrote a song and was told it did not fit the love theme. They said it was more excitement than love and did not fit the feel of the album. When I listened to it again I realized they were right it did not fit with the rest of the album and I got a little embarrassed. When I felt embarrassed I decided to write a song about it, it was fairly easy since I was feeling that emotion at the time. Feelings are something everyone experiences so an album about them would be something everyone could relate to. And since emotions have a wide range I would not be told a song does not fit the album. Also I noticed emotions make people feel uncomfortable. I think as a society we have lost our empathy. I hope that by being exposed to these raw emotions coming through my music, people might be less embarrassed or uncomfortable when emotions are expressed around them" "You want your music to make an impact?" "Of course all artist no matter the medium painting, sculpting, cooking, sewing, metalworking, drawing, writing, all artists want to connect with people through their art. And any connection makes an impact on that person." Michiru took a couple spoonfuls of her soup. "You were right the food here is very good." Lani said taking another bite of her noodles. "You seem to have gone back to your classical roots but you have collaborated with Minako Hino and also The four starlights before they left the music scene," "Michiru laughed "they did seem to fall off the face of the planet didn't they?" Lani nodded "Do you plan on any other modern collaborations anytime soon?" "I do not have anything in the works right now, I was offered to collaborate with a new boy band but I passed. I really wanted to focus on the music I was writing." " What about Lindsey Sterling?" Michiru smiled a radiant smile "What about her?" "Would you collaborate with her?" "If it made sense I would, she is a very talented musician, I enjoy much of her music. It's just never come up" "Many of her fans have requested a joint song. You playing your beautifully classic music and her playing her energetic upbeat music, blended together, it could be beautiful" Michiru smiled at her "Sometimes there is not enough time to do all the things we want to or would be nice to do. If a collaboration happens it would be lovely but things do not always work out for many reasons." Lani noticed the change in Michiru's voice where it had passion as she talked about the album it now sounded incredibly polite and professional. "Do you have plans for what's next after this album is released?" Lani asked. "I am hoping to take a little break to celebrate the ending of the two albums. I didn't get that after Eros because I went right into Intensely Human, the creativity was in full flow and I needed to get it out. Now that it is done, I will do a few concerts but mostly take a nice relaxing break." "Will you be going to the races? You seem to enjoy the F1 races. You have been seen frequenting the events." Michiru sat up a little straighter all the relaxation she had displayed earlier was gone, she was just as elegant but now very professional. "Did you two enjoy your meal?" A woman was walking up to the table her brown hair in a ponytail and she wore a crisp clean chef's shirt. Lani looked at the woman disappointed she had interrupted the question. "It was lovely as ever. It is always a pleasure when you cook." Michiru said. "I have the order ready that you made earlier, you told me to bring it out in a hour, is now a good time." "Yes perfect timing, we were just wrapping up." Michiru said. The chef left to get the package. Michiru looked at Lani, Lani had to decide if they left this interview back on a positive note and with the possibility of future interviews or if she pushes to get the information her manager wanted, which of the racers Michiru is interested in. "I'm very sorry about the last question, I seemed to have forgotten myself. Is there anything else you would like to add to the interview before we leave?" Lani hoped it was enough to keep her name off the list of reporters Michiru refused to give interviews to. Michiru smiled it was polite "I think we covered quite a lot about the album, I cannot think of anything more to say about it right now. Thank you" Michiru stood up and the chef was coming back with a bag "Here you go, enjoy it when you get around to it." "Thank you, I'll probably see you next week." Michiru turned to Lani "Good bye Lani, looking forward to the article." Michiru paid the bill and left.

Lani sat in her car, her manager would not be happy but her boss was the one that told her not to offend Ms. Kaiou. She hoped she did not offend her, she hoped this had not blacklisted her. There were only a handful of reporters that had gotten multiple interviews with her and Lani wanted to be included in their ranks.


End file.
